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Former U.S. National Team and Princeton University coach Bob Bradley can guide Egypt to the 2014 World Cup if it can get past African power Ghana in a two-legged playoff. While at Princeton, Bradley coached current Tigers boss Jim Barlow.

Former Princeton University and U.S. National Team coach Bob Bradley — who has the Egyptian National Team teasingly close to qualifying for the 2014 World Cup — keeps a small, but tight-knit group of soccer friends that he lets into his inner-circle.

One of those is current Princeton coach Jim Barlow, who played for Bradley at Princeton from 1987-90.

For those who have lost track of Bradley since he was unceremoniously fired as U.S. National Team coach a few years back, he has become like a rock star in revolution-torn Egypt. His ability to coach and knowledge of soccer has a beleaguered country and a once-downtrodden national team riding high as Egypt seeks its first World Cup berth since 1990.

“It is hard to be surprised considering what Bob did with the US National Team and with the professional teams he has coached,” Barlow said. “Now it all comes down to two games against Ghana for a berth in the World Cup. He probably couldn’t have had a harder road to get there, but I’m not surprised at what he has done so far.”

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The Pharoahs will attempt to take the next step on Nov. 19 when they meet Ghana in a two-legged playoff in the final round of African qualifying. The game is being played in Egypt’s capitol city of Cairo, which has been plagued by violence; but Bradley feels it offers his team a nice home-field advantage.

Bradley — whose brother Scott is Princeton’s head baseball coach — and his team have given a nation beset by hostility a pleasant distraction. If he gets his team to Brazil in 2014, Bob will be a hot interview all over the world for the amazing job he has done.

He and his wife Lindsay are Egypt’s most famous Americans at the moment but, rather than accept a role as unofficial ambassador, Bradley still considers himself a soccer coach first and foremost. Barlow, as much as anyone in America, understands what his former coach is dealing with through constant contact.

“Bob and I speak every couple of weeks, and when he does visit family in New Jersey we try to get together,” Barlow said. “He has an incredible ability to stay focused on the things that are within his control. He knows how important it would be for the country, and for the team to make it to Brazil.

“While they face enormous obstacles with the chaos in the country, the professional league shutting down, etc., he still has managed to get through the group stage (of qualifying) without a loss. It’s really amazing what he has done. Now that they have drawn Ghana in the final round of qualifying, it will be another huge challenge.”

Egypt was the only team that amassed the maximum 18 points in the second round of African qualifying, but because they were 50th in the September FIFA World Rankings (sixth amongst 10 African group winners), they were placed in Pot 2 and must play Ghana, the Pot 1 winner, in the final two qualifying games. Ghana is ranked 24th in the world and reached the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals.

Regardless of what happens in November, the job Bradley has done amidst the conflict in Egypt is nothing short of remarkable. It makes one wonder just how he does it.

“That one is hard for me to answer or put into words,” said Barlow, whose Tigers carry a 1-4 mark into tonight’s home game with Florida International. “He works incredibly hard at every aspect of coaching — picking players, running training camps, team building, setting the right tone, creating an environment that works, etc.

“He’s intelligent and thoughtful; he seems fearless and focused to the point where things that would seem enormous distractions don’t appear to distract him. And, of course, he knows the game as well as anyone.”

FORMER RAVEN FLYING HIGH: Goalie David Pastuna, who kept Robbinsville High in most every game it played last year, is doing the same thing for Rider this season.

The Broncs freshman was named Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week for all games played September 16-22 on Monday. He authored two straight shutouts in 1-0 wins over LIU and St. Bonaventure for the 5-2 Broncs.

“It is great to see David step up and win a couple of games for us,” said Rider head coach Charlie Inverso, a former goalie himself. “The kid has so much raw potential because he is a phenomenal athlete.

“Dave absolutely works his tail off. He’s good and he’s confident. He did a good job for us against St. Bonaventure. He was there when we needed him. We have a new culture and work ethic here and David is easily one of the top five hardest working players on the team so it is nice to see him be recognized.” The Broncs have a Jersey showdown when they host Seton Hall Wednesday.

GOOD WEEKEND FOR MCCC: Mercer went down to Virginia for the Prince George’s Tournament this past weekend and came back with two wins over Northern Virginia (5-3) and Harford (2-1).

Colonial Valley Conference players continue to power the Vikings’ offense. Trenton High grad Edwin Benavides had a hat trick against Northern Virginia, Ewing’s Nana Osei had a goal and three assists in the two games, Nottingham’s Fulvio DeStasio had one goal and one assist and Nottingham’s Uzo Iloka had a goal.

Osei leads the team with 10 points (three goals, four assists), while Benavides is the top goal scorer with four.

Mercer is 5-2-1 on the season and 0-1 in Region XIX Division I play with a loss to Burlington. The Vikes face region foe Essex tomorrow at NJIT.

LIONS SPLIT NJAC OPENERS: The New Jersey Athletic Conference is one of the toughest in NCAA Division III and that was proven once again as The College of New Jersey opened conference play this past week.

After scoring 25 goals in a 5-1-1 start (an average of 3.6 per game), the Lions were held to two in their first two NJAC starts.

The good news for TCNJ is the one it got against Ramapo was enough for a 1-0 overtime victory Saturday, but the Lions fell 2-1 to Stockton on Wednesday. Hopewell Valley High graduate Aaron Utman made six saves in goal for the shutout in Mahwah.

TCNJ now faces its toughest stretch of the season, as it hosts Montclair (7-1) tomorrow and Rutgers-Camden (9-0) Wednesday. Montclair is ranked No. 17 in NCAA Division III and R-C is ranked No. 3. Both schools bring local products to Ewing as Bordentown grad Jason Zablow is a senior defender for Montclair, while Princeton’s Kyle Ehrenworth, Steinert’s Derek Shearer and Hightstown’s Osmin Bernal are all listed on R-C’s massive 35-man roster.

KNIGHTS CELEBRATE: Rutgers has hit a mini-skid, losing its AAC opener to SMU and falling at Drexel Tuesday night to drop to 3-4-1.

Rutgers will try and turn things around at Memphis tomorrow and at home against Hofstra Wednesday before it celebrates 75 years of Scarlet Knights soccer at the Oct. 5 home game with Cincinnati.

All Rutgers men’s soccer alumni are invited to the festivities, which begin with a pre-game reception at the Audi Club at the Hale Center at 5 p.m. prior to the 7 p.m. contest.

Rutgers is asking for anyone wishing to attend to RSVP by this coming Tuesday and acquire a ticket to the game by emailing: trandise@scarletknights.com.